Conley Owens > Quotes

“Paul’s policy follows the command of Christ. In refusing ministerial reciprocity while accepting—and encouraging—ministerial colabor, Paul does precisely what Jesus commanded of his disciples.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“While the tithes and offerings are given to the Lord, the book of Numbers also says they are given by the Lord (Num. 18:8, 12, 19, 21, 24). These two primary directions of flow must control our understanding of the secondary direction of flow.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“One may receive colabor, even request it, since such a request does not impose a direct obligation but appeals to divine obligation.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“I don’t write all this to challenge the legitimacy of parachurch ministries but to call attention to the fact that they introduce their own complications, especially when it comes to ministry fundraising. Since they cannot rely on the fundraising practice of the church, they tend to create new avenues of support that potentially violate the dorean principle.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Along with Paul, we should rejoice at the gospel efforts of those who preach truly but not as sincerely as they ought. Antagonistic pursuits such as boycotts are not only unnecessary but also largely unhelpful, and it would be unwise to intentionally cut oneself off from the vast array of biblical teaching offered at a cost.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“he willingly receives from the first Philippian he evangelizes (Acts 16:15; cf. Phil. 1:5), and he indefinitely continues to reject the Corinthians’ gift (1 Cor. 9:15; 2 Cor. 11:12). He rejects support most frequently in the context of initial visits, but that is because reciprocity is most frequently offered in the context of an initial visit. The apostle only receives support as colabor, and when he arrives in an unevangelized area, there are rarely colaborers to be found.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“The dorean principle offers a foundation from which we can begin to concretize the New Testament model of ministry fundraising.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“I recognized that if the apostles and prophets were authoritative messengers sent by God, then the black letters carry all the same weight as the red.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“While not exclusive to parachurch institutions, there is a reason the sale of ministry occurs more frequently outside the church than inside the church. Book sales cover author commission, conference tickets cover speaker fees, tuition payments cover tenured salaries, and proprietary licenses cover musician paychecks.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“While copyright offers legal protections to authors, it simultaneously restricts the freedoms of those who consume creative works.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“One who complies with legal restrictions does not offer a freewill sacrifice to the Lord but only a concession to the one protected by the law. One who gives money to receive access to gospel-related material does so only as an exchange, compensating another to settle a debt owed to him.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Unprepared for the challenge set before her, the church has blindly followed the model of the world in its publication practices, distributing materials for a fee.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“The Greek word used here, dorean, indicates the giving of something apart from any remuneration. In a context explicitly concerning money, this is the same word Paul uses to describe his gratuitous (freely offered) preaching (2 Cor. 11:7).”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“While he indeed speaks of gospel reach and other motivations, he primarily emphasizes the importance of sincerity.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“As a servant of God, Paul has stewardship over his converts to receive money from them but would abuse that stewardship by receiving payment for a gospel that is not his to sell.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“in the course of ministry, a Christian’s first priority should be the honor of Christ rather than security of credit.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“A minister who has no intention of taking advantage of these protections must go out of his way to explicitly waive his rights if he wishes to assure others they are free to use the creative products of his ministry however they wish.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“The primary concern of Matthew 10:8–10 is not what is received or how it is received but from whom it is received. The disciples are not to receive from those to whom they minister. They are to receive from God. The key to all this is found in the word “laborer.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Paul’s activity and reward are identical: to preach the gospel free of charge.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“The one who receives reciprocity does not operate as a sincere servant of Christ but as a free agent after his own reward. On the other hand, the one who receives colabor enjoys financial benefits within the auspices of stewardship, a greater reward than mere money.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“all who minister with an eye toward material payment possess an ulterior motive, unveiling themselves as less than sincere, as false teachers. This observation elevates the dorean principle beyond a nice-to-have idea. If the New Testament anticipates that we should be able to distinguish false teachers from true teachers by their disposition toward reciprocity, then the dorean principle is an essential component of God-honoring ministry.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Just as Old Testament Israel sacrificed to God by giving to his priests, the New Testament church often sacrifices to God by giving to his ministers.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Acts of giving and hospitality are colabor in the fullest sense. For a minister’s needs to be met, either he or other believers must engage in some profit-generating enterprise to fund his ministry. Regardless of who performs the work, that secular labor supports the same spiritual ministry.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“D. A. Carson notes a similar scheme in Matthew 10:8–10, remarking that while “the service rendered must not be bought or sold,” a church has the duty to provide for its ministers”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Ministerial colabor Support (material or otherwise) given by man to a minister out of a sense of obligation to God, to honor or aid in the proclamation of the gospel”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“The dorean principle characterizes godly financial activity in the name of the gospel as acts of colabor in contradistinction to acts of reciprocity. Ministry should be supported, not sold.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Paul does not reject all money but only that which would constitute payment and compromise his free-of-charge proclamation of the gospel.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“In settings absent of the converted, they found lands potentially ripe for reciprocity but barren for colabor. It seems reasonable to suspect Christ instructed his disciples to carry moneybags not merely because they could not predictively expect support but because they could not even ethically receive it.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“In the context of gospel proclamation, accepting support as anything other than an act of colabor compromises the sincerity of ministry.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity

“Duty to God must triumph over a sensed debt to any minister since God mediates all obligation to his servants as ministers.”
― Conley Owens, The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity